>>28569368>Gee, I wonder which one is more profitableWhile i definitely agree with you, let me play devil's advocate here.
The generations that arguably give the most of a shit about pokemon (Speaking for the west at least) are the ones who grew up with it. People who are teens/ young adults/ neckbearded manchildren right now. The GO explosion is proof of that. For a show to grow with it's audience instead of sticking to one demographic and just hopping from generation to generation is far from non-profitable.
Fucking trash like Steven Universe is successful, meaning the market for more mature themes in a children's show definitely still exists. Shows like Avatar: TLA and Wakfu is also a great example for this. If you want to look at Japan specifically, Tamers exists. Not to mention there's no fucking doubt shows aimed for younger audiences over there at least have more grown up themes than you could get away with here.
Kids like more intelligent shows that are willing to set aside the "power of friendship" theme every single episode